Firefly: End of the Rainbow
by Sir E. Bellum
Summary: I wrote this during creative writing. We did 5 minute fiction stories, and I wrote all of mine into one story  -well, two, but the other comes later- which is why the story is so weird. I may add to it, as it ends abruptly, but I may not. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

_Serenity _floated through the black, following the rainbow coloured trail of fuel, plasma, and debris leading towards a derelict ship. She and her crew were on a job for Fanty and Mingo, collecting salvage from disabled and abandoned ships.

Mal sat in the pilot's chair, flipping switches, scanning the debris as river, in the copilot's chair, steered the ship. They were going for a shipment of gold, left on the aptly named _Leprechaun_. The ironically unlucky ship had been hit in the engines by a meteor, had floated along for a while, then, recognized as a lost cause, abandoned by all hands. All Mal had to do was take Jayne and Zoe over, collect the gold, and come back. Easy as pie . . . which is what had Mal worried. This was an important shipment, there might be booby traps.

Later, near the airlock, Mal, Jayne, and Zoe were suited up and ready, with the exception of the rabbit's foot Jayne was attempting to affix to his space suit.

"Jayne, just leave it," Zoe said, fixing him with a dead-pan stare.

"Luck didn't help them, and it probably won't help us." Mal offered, trying to speed things up.

"I don't care, I'm taking it," Jayne said, finally clipping it to the front of his suit, "We need every gorram bit of luck we can get."

Kaylee walked up to the control panel for the airlock.

"Everything's shiny captain, you guys ready?" she asked cheerfully.

"If Jayne's finally done with his frettin'" Mal said, shooting a pointed glance at Jayne.

"Okay! Good luck with the crime!" she bubbled.

Jayne just grumbled. "So easy for you to be happy, you aint gotta do nothin'"

Mal grinned. "Kaylee's off on marshmallow mountain, where there are streams of chocolate and lumps of ice-cream as rocks"

"Stop your fighting and lets get this over with," Zoe said, interrupting the banter, "The quicker we get the goods and blow this place, the better."

Five minutes later they were floating though the derelict _Leprechaun_, on the way to the cargo hold. Suddenly, as they turned a corner, they found their job significantly easier.

"Well, this just gets more and more interesting," he said, perplexed, "Maybe Kaylee has a sister she never told us about."

The path the the cargo hold was marked with a long painting of a rainbow, painted by some crew member with far to much time on their hands.

"These people sure had a knack for irony, sir." Zoe said, a faint grin on her face.

Meanwhile, in the cockpit, River was flipping through a childrens' book, looking for a red and white striped tourist and his yellow and black striped nemesis. Finishing quickly, she decided to take a walk. Her brain would tell here if anything was about to happen, long before the ship's alarms would.

She wandered towards the engine room at the other end of the ship. Perhaps Kaylee would play with her, if she wasn't too busy.

Kaylee, however, wasn't in the engine room when River arrived. Turning around, she walked towards the infirmary. Perhaps she and Simon were talking in there. She stopped short when she passed Simon's room. Apparently Simon and Kaylee were both too busy.

Returning to the cockpit, she played briefly with the dinosaurs on the console before going back to her book.

Outside, in the black, Mal, Jayne, and Zoe had reached the cargo bay and melted the lock. Inside, the walls were lined with boxes. Upon examination, they all had the alliance stamp marking them as a vital gold shipment.

"Jayne, get on the comm, tell Kaylee to open the outer airlock door, this is gonna take a while." He ordered, then, turning to Zoe, "Lets get this stuff back on the ship."

Each of them attached four boxes to their suit to start. Mal, on point, was about halfway back when suddenly the path ahead collapsed in. A large piece of debris had crashed into the hull, blocking enough to the passageway to prevent them getting through with the gold.

"River," Mal said into the radio, "We have to find a new way through, warn us if anything else is going to hit, ok?"

"Roses are red

Violets are Blue

The flowers are dead

And so are you."

was her only response.

"Yeah, well, not yet, and not so long as you do your job." Mal said calmly. He could handle morbid.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ch. 2  
>Kaylee and Simon get some mixed news<br>**

Mal walked down the corridor, leading Zoe and Jayne behind him. Every sound he heard reverberating through his boots made him jump, for fear of another collapse.

_Walk in the park, yeah right_ He thought

A section of wall near them buckled suddenly, causing them all to start, but the wall held.

"Ta Ma De! (Dammit)," Mal yelled, "You're supposed to be telling us about this stuff River!"

"Didn't break the skin," she replied, "Not important if it doesn't break the skin."

Mal decided it was safe to assume she'd warn them if they were in any real danger, but just in case, he lightened the magnetic bonding on his boots, for a quick push off.

After 10 minutes of suspense filled wandering, they made it back to the airlock. Once inside the outer doors, they quickly unclipped the gold. Once finished, Mal turned on the gravity to the section, sealed the hatch, and Simon and Kaylee rushed forwards to help. They weren't making eye contact, but Simon's collar, pulled as high as it would go, didn't quite cover the mark on his neck.

It took 5 more 10 minute trips to get the gold back, and finally, they set off towards Beaumonde, to get their cut of the payoff.

Later, on the way back to his bunk, Mal saw Simon climbing out of Kaylee's bunk.

"Ya know doc, sooner or later you two are gonna have to decide which bunk you'll be sleeping in, yours or hers, can't have both" He said

"You can have mine" Came the unexpected voice behind him, it was Zoe, walking up from the kitchen, "Doesn't seem the same since Wash, died"

"Uh, buh, we can't," Simon stuttered out, unsure what to do.

"Take it, you can and you will, to many memories in there." She said, continuing through to the bridge.  
>"I'll even help you move" she threw to the two confused parties below her.<p>

"Well," Mal said, matter-of-factly, "That settles it."

"Oh, but . . . " simon trailed off.

**End of Ch. 2, I'll hopefully come up with a longer 3****rd**** section, this just seemed like a good stopping point**.


End file.
